Cultivate Appetites By Being a Crave Leader

One of the greatest needs in the world today is for good leaders. There are plenty of leaders, but we know that all leaders are not good. What does leadership really mean anyway? And what does good leadership look like? Here are some quotes about leadership:

“Leadership is about bringing people together”– George W Bush

“Leadership is defined by results not attributes” – Peter Drucker

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” – Dwight Eisenhower

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” – Dwight Eisenhower

“Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people” – John D Rockefeller

Although these are good quotes, I don’t feel that they truly capture the essence of leadership. In my opinion, Jesus Christ is the best example of leadership the world has ever seen. I look to His life daily to capture the essence of His leadership, and I found that He defined leadership as the ability to create and cultivate an appetite in another person.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and in the end he will not depart from it.” The Greek word for “train up” literally means “to touch the pallet of” or “to cultivate a taste for”. When Solomon was writing these wise words, Hebrew mothers of the day had a tradition to chew carrots or celery for their children, remove it from their mouths, and then touch the palates of their children of their children’s mouths.

Long before Gerber Baby Food, mothers did this to begin to cultivate tastes in the children for the food that nourished their bodies. This verse encourages parents to do the exact same thing in regards to the moral direction of their children. The ability to do this is at the core of leadership.

We are all leaders, and in the course of daily life we all create appetites in others regardless of whether we want to or not. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself one of these questions?

What kind of appetites are we creating?

Whose palates are we touching with our lives?

Who is watching us and eating from the words we speak?

Who is being nourished from the actions that we take?

Are we adequately creating an appetite for the appropriate things of life? In our homes, businesses, and communities?

Do you create and cultivate appetites for the things that are temporary or for the things that last?

Do our employees and clients hunger to be more like us?

TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Ask yourself what kind of appetites you are creating in those around you. Identify weak areas and change what’s on the menu!